Stargate: SG-1 Re-Watch: Cold Lazarus (Season 1 Episode 7)

As the series starts to find its footing, Stargate: SG-1 Season 1 Episode 7 “Cold Lazarus” ties together character development with a little bit of world-building to create a nuanced hour of television.

This episode of Stargate: SG-1 was written by Jeffrey F. King and directed by Ken Girotti.

While there is new alien life in “Cold Lazarus” it’s less of an ancient tribe based on the ancient peoples of earth and more scared sentient crystals who “hide” from SG-1 when they come from the gate.

We open on a planet that looks something like a 90s playdough creation. There’s a bright blue sky against cornmeal yellow sand, and a series of blue-purple crystals scattered all around. Plus, a beat of somber music that marks the time that passes in this scene.

In hindsight, I don’t think it could be any more clear that SG-1 is standing in a mass grave.

We’re not on this planet for very long. No, not long at all. The scene holds our focus just long enough to establish some exposition. Daniel and Sam come up with a few observations about how all the crystals are in pieces except one, Teal’c looks stoically upon the sand dunes, and Jack O’Neill touches a crystal and get zapped and duplicated.

When the team arrives back at Stargate Command, the duplicate, hereafter referred to a ‘Crystal Jack,’  finds Jack’s locker and begins to look through his things before leaving to find Sara, Jack’s wife, and Charlie, his dead son.

Even though Richard Dean Anderson’s version of O’Neill has more of a sense of humor than Kurt Russell’s in the movie, unless they planned on ignoring the circumstances that brought Jack to the SGC in the first place, this a character thread that needed to be addressed and closed to some extent.

While “Children of the Gods” references Charlie, it never really brings him closure. You can argue that as a grieving parent Jack will never find closure, but the events of this episode help him put aside some guilt about the events of that day. While Jack doesn’t talk about his feelings, given his kinship with Ska’ra and the fact that Ska’ra is now a host to Goa’uld, accepting what happened is vital to O’Neill’s character.

Crystal Jack looks exactly like Jack, but that’s where the comparisons stop. The movements and interactions of the doppelganger are stiffer and more alien and lack the understanding of Jack’s memories that would help him navigate this new world.

Both King’s writing and Girottit’s directing creates an interesting first impression of the character as he starts to explore Earth. As a viewer, you don’t quite see Crystal Jack’s intentions and they seem ominous at first. The first moments where Crystal Jack is looking at Sara leave the viewer to wonder if you should be screaming, ‘Get away from the imposter, Sara!’”

But, at the same time, Crystal Jack has a curious and unusual physicality that reads more nervous than menacing. The scenes where Crystal Jack is looking at Charlie’s things and holding them close are heartbreaking, and it’s the kind of scene that would only come from a doppelganger with no knowledge of how Jack would react in these situations.

This is all the more obvious when Jack comes back through the gate miffed that SG-1 left without him in his usual tone and cadence, but surrounded by ordinance. (Because who the heck is this guy!) The difference in body language and tone is immediate and yet, as a viewer, you start to wonder how everyone at the SGC missed it.

Speaking of aliens who are unfamiliar with this world, this episode starts to expand Teal’c’s storyline as it relates to Earth. After he defects in “Children of the Gods” we basically only see him in Stargate Command and off-world with the team, but he does want to see more of Earth as he indicates to O’Neill in “The Enemy Within.”

On “Cold Lazarus” we start to see him explore Earth through media. He’s channel surfing when Sam and Daniel come to find him, needing his staff weapon to test a theory. His analysis:

TEAL’C: Your world is a strange place.

Teal’c’s is an alien who’s world consists of other aliens who take the bodies of humans as hosts. You’d think that Earth would be mundane in comparison, but nope, we’re weird. In future episodes, we’ll see Teal’c start to absorb more pop culture, but it’s a slow process, and this episode plants the seeds.

While Sam and Daniel try to figure out what’s up with the crystals and find a definitive answer that Jack is actually Jack, Crystal Jack is talking to Sara about Charlie. Charlie killed himself with Jack’s personal gun and there’s a lot of understandable grief in these scenes.

It’s later revealed that Crystal Jack is trying to bring Charlie back through the stargate because after the energy in the crystal zapped O’Neill, the being tries to heal him. The energy senses his pain regarding the death of Charlie and he thinks if he brings Charlie through the stargate he can heal Jack.

But, Crystal Jack’s culture doesn’t understand death in the same way as flesh and blood humans from Earth. When he approaches Sara he assumes that Charlie still exists in some form and it rips open some wounds. It’s almost cruel, but through Sara and her father, we get some insight into Jack that we need as the series continues.

Harley Jane Kozack gives a brilliant performance as Sara and she does so opposite Richard Dean Anderson while he’s portraying a confused alien version of his character. Crystal Jack’s confusion was interesting to watch, but Sara is also the first civilian who hears the word ‘stargate,’ and it’s interesting to see her reactions as she walks the line between confusion and frustration.

After clearing the real Jack O’Neill, Sam and Daniel discover that the crystals are actually life forms. When Sam talks to one it emulates her face and tells them about when the Goa’uld came to their planet. The crystal says that they tried to greet the Goa’uld but when one touched them, it was destroyed by their energy.

In anger, they gathered the crystals into one place and destroyed them, hence the broken crystal graveyard at the top of the episode. But as their energy breaks down it emits nuclear particle radiation. The smaller crystals aren’t emitting enough to cause alarm, but since Crystal Jack is a more complex version of the crystals in the lab, he could emit a lethal dose of radiation to anyone near him.

“Cold Lazarus” is also the first time that we see a threat go past the Cheyenne Mountain and it has a uniquely personal perspective.

Compared to when we were looking at a highly contagious plague in “The Broca Divide” this feels much smaller, but also more manageable and easier to contain in an episode and give viewers a satisfying conclusion.  It’s one physical being who is also not violent, so while there is a ticking clock and a threat, there’s nothing to indicate the being would do anything malicious if he could help it.

Yet, the fact that he’s with Jack’s family means that the stakes are high, and it’s compelling, but also heartbreaking, to watch.

The final scenes, when Crystal Jack appeals to Jack and says that he doesn’t want to do any harm are poignant. In these few moments, we get a sense of the being fear and his desire to make things right. Then when Crystal Jack shifts into Charlie to show Jack “what of Charlie is still there inside you,” it feels like the type of gift any grieving parent would want.

When Jack and Crystal Charlie walk out of the hospital, it provides some closure to a heavy episode and as much as it’s sad, it’s beautiful to watch. Jack and Sara may go their separate ways, but this feels like an important thread for O’Neill’s character.

The final moment when Jack walks Crystal Charlie through the gate is the perfect ending to this episode. It’s not somber or sad but leaves us with an optimistic O’Neill that is closer to the Richard Dean Anderson version than Kurt Russell’s.

JACK: Keep the lights on. I’ll be back.

What do you think of this episode of Stargate SG-1? Let us know in the comments below.

All ten seasons of Stargate: SG-1 are currently available on Hulu.

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